In Your Heart
by twin of a sister
Summary: Elena realizes something she's always known: Stefan was the one she would always love. And so, as the two of them try to pick up the pieces of their broken relationship, Damon is left to watch from the side, in hurt and darkness, until he meets a girl. And she just might be the one he's been waiting for, but unfortunately, love never does come easy...
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except Mia and my story.

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**In Your Heart**

**Prologue**

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_Summer, 2013_

A cry pierced the night as a girl with eyes as gray as the sea after a storm felt something, someone with hands and a mouth to whisper words, attack her.

She could do nothing as it pushed her back against her car door, leaving her winded. She could do nothing as it _bit _into her neck, and sucked the blood running through her veins, and the life inside of her, out. She curled her fingers around the wrists of her attacker, trying to push it back.

It was to no avail.

It seemed to only make it try to kill her faster.

She slide down the side of her car, to the ground. She gasped for breath as blood poured out of the wound on her neck, turning her dark hair to black, staining her shirt, and forming a puddle of red beside her.

It took her a minute to even realize she was alone once more, that her attacker had disappeared into the night as fast as it had appeared.

"Maybe... I shouldn't have walked back alone..." The girl said to herself, her voice no louder than a whisper.

The girl slumped further down the side of the car as the last word died on her lips, until her head rested against the tire and the tips of her fingers dipped into the puddle of her own blood. Her strength had left her, her will to live overcome by the need to make the pain go away.

Then... that was it.

It took three minutes for the whole thing to happen. One for the attack, another for the girl to die, and one more for her to breathe her last breath. And all the while, no cars passed the scene on the side of the dark street. No one had heard the attack, no one had seen it...

No one would even know about the "college girl who went missing" until two days later, on a Monday morning when a trucker drove past and saw the body of the girl with the eyes the color of the sea after a storm.

And even then, they didn't notice that same girl, the dead girl, screaming at them, trying to get their attention.

Because she didn't realize she was dead, that they really couldn't hear, see, touch her anymore. Because she didn't know she had been killed by a vampire, because she didn't know she was now a ghost on the Other Side, forced to wander alone, for the rest of time...

At least, that was supposed to be what happened.

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**Author's Note: **Did you like it? Did I just confuse you entirely? Review and tell me, maybe?


	2. Resident Evil

******Author's Note: **I'm sorry to everyone who read the prologue, and then had to wait another three months and five days for me to post the next chapter. I meant to do it a lot sooner, I just couldn't seem to find the right words to write, but hopefully the wait was worth it because you like this chapter.

**Dedication: **I meant to put this on the prologue, but anyways, I'm dedicating this story to Gianna, who has been such a sweet, wonderful friend to me. I'm never going to be able to thank her enough for all of the support and enthusiasm she has given to me and my writing. So this is for you, Gianna, I hope you like it!

P.S. On here Gianna is known as **TinyDancer365**, and everyone should go read her stories right now, because they are all amazing. Not even kidding, I've read and reread more than one of them at least two or three times because they are so amazing, well-written, dramatic, and addictive. So go read them, you won't regret it, I promise!

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own anything except this story idea and my character, Mia.

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**In Your Heart**

**I**

**Resident Evil**

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_She could feel the world disappearing around her._

_Stefan was ripped away from her, the feel of his kiss still on her lips._

_The sound of her children's laughter rang in her ears as they faded away like lights flickering on and off, on and off._

_She could only watch, frozen in place and helpless to do anything, as the warm, cheery kitchen she was standing in, melted into an empty, gray room._

_And then, everything vanished in a blinding flash of light..._

Elena's eyes snapped open.

Blinking rapidly and gasping breathlessly, she realized where she was; she was back in the boarding house.

And that realization made her sad, because as hard, as vehemently, as she had tried to deny it to Caroline, Damon, herself, the visions had meant something to her.

"Elena."

She gasped at the voice, startled out of her thoughts as she looked over her shoulder to see Stefan standing there in the doorway.

"Did you feel that too?" She asked him, as she stood up.

He nodded. "And then it just...ended." He said, his voice thick with emotion as he said the last word.

"Does that mean that it's over?" She asked, with wide eyes, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice.

He nodded again, "Yeah, it's over."

For a minute, they just stood there, neither of them really knowing what to say.

Then Stefan walked towards Elena, "Come on, sit down."

She let him draw her down onto the seat again, staying quiet as she watched him sit with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped, the flames reflecting in his eyes as he looked at the fire.

Watching him made her think of the visions again.

She could still feel the touch of his strong hands as they curled around her waist, the way his lips moved against hers as they kissed, the happiness that had warmed her entire self from being so in love, so human with Stefan... She shook her head, trying to think of something, anything else. It hurt thinking about them, knowing they weren't real, and she felt like she was betraying Damon by thinking of them, by wanting to think of them.

Even though they were broken up, and she had, had no control over them.

"They weren't real," Elena said.

"It was a spell," Stefan said softly, agreeing with her. "Showing us what we wanted to see."

"We weren't vampires, my parents were still alive," Elena shook her head, "It was a fantasy, like a movie. It was the life we never could've had."

"But it still felt..." Stefan trailed off.

"Amazing." Elena finished for him.

Stefan nodded, "Yeah."

"But, you know, the life that we had, that was amazing too. It wasn't a spell or prophecy, it was real. We fell in love on our own." Stefan said, and Elena nodded as she swallowed thickly, emotion bubbling up inside of her as memories of being with Stefan flashed before her eyes. "You know, we had our ups and downs, we fought..."

"I died." Elena said, deadpan.

Stefan let out a breath, "Yeah... We changed," He continued. "Both of us, and we grew, we grew apart. But that is real, and that's life."

They were silent for a moment, neither of them really knowing what to say after that.

"You couldn't cook." Elena said, still not really knowing what to say, but wanting to end the silence.

"And you could." Stefan said back. "Again, a fantasy." He teased, smirking at her.

Elena gasped, letting out an indignant laugh.

They smiled at each other for a minute, neither of them talking. Then Stefan looked down at the floor, before looking back at Elena. "I'll always love you, Elena." he said.

"I'll always love you too." Elena said back. And she meant it, she would always love him. How could she not? He was her first love, the person she used to think was her forever, until she started having feelings for Damon...

Elena put her head on Stefan's shoulder. "Do you think Damon and I will ever be able to talk like this, like friends?"

Stefan took a breath before replying. "I think you can either be friends with someone or in love with them, I don't think you can be both."

Elena picked her head up, and turned to stare at him, wide-eyed. He didn't really think that, did he? He couldn't...

"I don't believe that." She shook her head, "I don't think you can be in love with someone _unless _you're also friends with them. If you aren't friends with the person you're in love with, then how can you trust them, be comfortable enough to love them?"

And then, she realized something, something she must have always known, deep down, the reason why she had reacted so strongly to Stefan's words...

She was still in love with Stefan.

"I've been so stupid." Elena said under her breath, thinking about how oblivious she had been, and how right Caroline and Jeremy had been.

As much as she cared for Damon, as much as she thought she loved him, she had never stopped loving Stefan. She had tried to bury her feelings for him, convincing herself that Damon was the one she wanted to be with. She had thought the attraction and the passion she had for Damon outweighed the love she had felt for Stefan, but now she knew that was wrong.

Because her feelings for Damon didn't outweigh the ones she had for Stefan.

And they never would, because despite everything, despite her overwhelming, all-consuming feelings for Damon, Elena was still in love with Stefan, and that would never change.

So, shouldn't she be with the one she would love always?

Stefan furrowed his brow at her, confused. "What?"

She looked up at him, his voice pulling her out of her thoughts and back to reality. "I've been so stupid," She said again. "Stefan, I love you."

He nodded slowly, not really understanding what she was talking about. "I know, you just said that."

"No, Stefan," Elena shifted so that she was facing Stefan, and took his hands in hers. "I mean, I'm in love with you."

Stefan shook his head as he smiled wanly at her, "You're just saying that because of the visions. They brought back a lot of memories, a lot of feelings. Believe me, I know. But Elena, you love Damon."

A bitter, humorless laugh escaped Elena's lips, as she nodded at Stefan's words. "Yeah, I do love him. But I finally realized why we are never going to work. We keep breaking up and making up, over and over again, and that's not how a relationship's supposed to work... It's why we broke up this time too, actually. We have too much control over each other, and we didn't want to keep making up, only break up again. I don't want that, I want a relationship like the one we had... Well not really," She took a breath, "I don't want a relationship _like_ we had, I want _our_ relationship back. I never stopped loving you, Stefan. I convinced myself I did, because of my feelings for Damon, but I never stopped, not really. But none of this matters does it... I mean, why would it? It's not like we're getting back together, too much has happened... I've hurt you too much..."

Stefan disentangled their hands to brush a tear away from Elena's eye, surprising her because she hadn't realized she had even been crying.

"Elena, when all the ghosts were here, right before graduation, Lexi asked me what I'd do if you chose to love me again." He squeezed her hand, a smile curling across his face. "And you know what? I told her that I'd go back to you in a heartbeat."

Another tear slipped down Elena's cheek.

"After everything I've done to you..." She whispered, tearfully.

"I can't do this anymore, Elena." Stefan said, and then he bent his head down and kissed her.

Elena didn't react, she had frozen. Her mind was a going a mile a minute, why would he kiss her if he couldn't do this anymore...

Oh.

"Fine, Stefan, whatever." She said, before she kissed him back.

The kiss was wet from Elena's tears, but full of warmth and passion. Stefan cupped Elena's cheek with one hand, and drew her closer with the other, as Elena gripped his neck with her hands; she was trying to do the same thing he was, get closer and kiss deeper.

They sat there in front of the fire, just kissing and reveling in the feeling of being in each other's arms after so long.

"I love you, Stefan." Elena said a few minutes later, as they caught their breath.

"I love you too." Stefan said.

They kissed again, and then once more after that, before Elena put a hand on Stefan's chest.

He got the message, and pulled his lips away from hers. Resting his forehead against hers, he asked, "What is it?"

"I need to talk to Damon, before we do anything else." Elena said, as she peered up at Stefan from under her eyelashes, uncertain about what his reaction would be.

"Do you want me to do talk to him with you?" Stefan asked, knowing how hard, how heartbreaking that conversation was going to be for her, for Damon, for both of them. It wasn't going to end well.

Elena shook her head, touched by his concern, "No, this is something I need to do by myself." She said, because as nervous as she was about talking to Damon, she was just as sure that this was something she should do by herself; Damon deserved that much.

"Okay."

Reluctant to do so, but knowing she had to, Elena got up. "I'm going to go wait outside for Damon to come back."

Stefan nodded in understanding, "Okay."

But as Elena took a step to walk away, Stefan stopped her. He grasped her hand, pulling her back as he stood up. "But first," He said, before he cupped her face in his hands and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"For good luck," He mumbled against her skin.

Elena smiled, wrapping her arms around Stefan's waist, relishing in the feel of the kiss. It reminded her of all the times he had done that in the past, to comfort her or say goodbye as they parted ways in the school parking lot.

"Thank you." She whispered, pulling Stefan's hands down and squeezing them, before turning on her heel and walking towards the front door, bracing herself for the impending conversation.

And as she walked outside and sat down on the steps, all she could think about was how everything was changing, how so much had changed already.

It was amazing how different her life was now, from even just an hour ago...

A voice brought her out of her thoughts, "Elena?"

Looking up, Elena locked eyes with her ex-boyfriend, who was standing over her with an eyebrow raised and his jaw clenched.

She stood up, taking a breath as Damon's curious, sad, suspicious, expectant eyes bore into hers. "We need to talk,"

Damon let out a breath, nodding, "Yeah, we do."

With that, the two of them walk into the house, neither of them really understanding just how much their conversation was going to affect them.

Because it was going to affect them; it would affect both of them for the rest of their undead lives.

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**Author's Note:** Please review! I'd love to know what you thought of the chapter. Did you love it, hate it? What was your favorite part, least favorite part? Was there something I could've done better, did I spell something wrong even? Please, tell me anything, I'd love any feedback you're able to give me.

Hope y'all are having a nice day, and again, sorry for the long wait. I have the next couple chapters outlined, and actually, the next two chapters should be posted within the next week.

In the words of Phoebe Buffay, "thank you, my babies." I love y'all for reading my story. :)


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